Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1887-03-22

hl1nafo Sea@, OF white hfVefs one o.
the stock holdeEs IN the Seattle Hep
Growers Association, and Buperinterd-
est Of the Associations hep ranch on
saoquslmie Prairie, was in seattle yes
terday, and ia couvsEsasion WITH Posz
IsTELLEGExcER reporter. be said: II
have been Spending the winter On ms
own farm, but / leave tomorrow for
| sn0qQaimie to take charge OF adaiFa
there. We aiready have hfty hence en-
/ pioyed setting poles. In tue fall. after
sbe hogs have been picked frem the
vines, We hire Indians 70 strip the vines
| from the cedar POLES. 1he vines are
then burned. and III ashes used to en-
rich the eel, while the poles ere piled
/ up IN rows and left 10 readiness for the
next s~ason. The weather does not in
iaFe cedar sny 30 speak Of, and ths
same poles last year after year. tn .
spring we will pat Out about Fifty acres
more 10 Futs. From these rats We viii
gather this fall from one thousand to
twelve handred pounds Of hops per acre.
This thing Of harvesting q crop from
the FIRST years planting Il peculiar TO
the sound ccantEy i1nd is unkuowa ia
the Eastern States As Ve increase our
acreage We have 70 increase our faeil-
lilies for curing the hops, and this year
We will cut up six more dry kIlns. We
ha' 9 little sawmili al the ranch which
ID capable of cutting ten thousand feet
Of Lumber per day. We have Just en-
ployed Mr.. George H. smith. formerly
superintendent Of Baker 4 Hamiiton's
hard wood uill AZ the head Of the bay.
t. take charge Of oar ssWmill. Besides
cutting all oar own lumber we expect 70
de considerable for the Seattle, Lake
shore and Eastern Railway Company,
whose road runs right 70 the bop ranch"
Reporter That road will prove
Rreat benefit 10 the Association, will Il
not1
Mr.. Jeh--I should say IL would. A
read is iust what We want. Last year
We paid cot for freight alone ten thou
sand dollars, and with the railroad We
can secure better service fer one third
Of the expense. We estimate the As
ISOLATION will save seven thousand dol
lars per year in freights alone, after the
90 rpletion Of that road.
ReporteF-HoW soon do You expect
toe road to be completed to the hop
raDeh7
Mr.. Jeh-The company assure us
they will DO Ia shape 10 handle our crop
this fall, aud We are making our ar
FanRements accordingly. Heretofore
We have been at a great disadvantage,
as We bad TO depend on the stage Of the
water TO move our crop to market. We
could not contract 20 deliver q man lC0
or 1000 bales Of hops on the wharf on
certain day with any Rssuranes that We
would be able to fill our obligation, for
last when We wanted to move the hops
tue river might be too low 10 admit a
steamer to reach our warehouse. With
the railroad il will be different; when
we get an order for hops we will be able
to al IL any day.
Reporter Do you anticipate any
trouble IN getting pickers to gather
Your cFopl
Mr. Jefs-Oh, no; that Is the least of
eur troubles. You see, We have 50 many
to pick that We have TO start in early
and wsrk late. Sc that our picking is
considered long job, and that 10 what
the pickers like. Last year We had more
piekers apply for work than We could
employ. We employed about 1909 per-
sons during the last picking season.
/ You see, We can draw from both ways.
All the piekeFs who come over from
/ Yakima, Kiickitst and Kittitas have 20
90 right by cur ranch, and We can get
as many OF them AZ We want, and be-
sides this, We have eur arrangements
/ made By which We get Indiaa pickers
all the way from British Columbia aud
even Alaska.
Rsporter-Do you always expect 10
deuend on Indian Iiokerel
Mr.. Jeff-No, am glad 70 say We do
not. You see, Me-. KiTks il going to es-
tahlish his Bsssimer steel works either
adjoining oar ranch or on Sallsl Prairie,
witch IL only two and half mIies from
rs. He expects 10 employ in and about
/ his work some two thousand men.
Many of these iran workers aud miners
viii have families. In fact We exseot
town OF from seven thousand 81 ten
thousand per ons 20 spring 40 around
his works within the next two or three
years, and from the sons aud daughters
Of these iron workers and coal miners
We will draw this hop pickers of the
future. indians do very we'll as pickers,
when You can DO no better, bat We much
prefer employing white girls and boys,
as they are more intelligent and capable
OF doing better work. Besides this, in-
stead Of carrying the money they earn
ont Of the e0untry, they Will keep it
and spend IL right 10 the county. 10
looking about | am surprised TO see how
little the people OF Seattle seem TO know
about the operations OF AIR kirke aud
hi. associates, although the PosT- INTEL
IIaKSCKR has published considerable
about IL. tell you the industry which
| be will establish right IN tbs very heart
Of King County, will be the greatest
enterprise on Puget Sound. de
has leased nearly, II not all. the iron
lodges in the Snoqualmie Pass for 3
period Of ~ years, aud bes obligated
himself 10 pay for at least 30 600 tons Of
iron ore per annum from the Denny
mine, although be expects to use Just
| Ave times that much. The first ten
years be gets this ore al 10 cents per
ton, the next ten years at % eests, and
after that at 30 cents per ton THIS iron,
with a small exception, will nod its way
20 the markets of she world through Be
sttle. This il no Sslever smelter rack
el, but is boHa 6is enteTp ise, being
carried on qaletly by man Of vast ex-
peEieEce and plenty OF capital
/ Reporter-Mr. kirke does not like
muoh publicity. SO guess We bad better
| drop dis enterprise for the present and
| discuss the hop ranch a iissle farther.
DO sou think thu Association Is going to
prove successful
Mr.. jeff never lost faith in the en-
| terprise Tor one instant. On the start
/ We had oae OF two dull years, With low
prices, bot on the whole We have rs rea
| sou to complain and the outlook could
| I OF be brighter. We are sase OF one
railroad and very likely TIVE, aud We are
sure Of the il works We have Jest
| secured for the association a section OF
| excellent timber lRud, which vili be Of
iucalculable value to the future. Every
year We will increase our acreage OF
hops until We have AZ least six hundred
aoreas Of hops in body. ! think We
nov have the largest yard 10 the United
States and we will oontlnus TO extend u
aatil Il will be the largest hop yard ~
/ the world.
Ssysag Goods, We have received sew
efal large shipments asd TIE los prices
which We have marsed them casnot
fail 90 attract general attention frOm
/ cash purchasers Of dry gOoas.